
Sri Lanka fought back admirably against England thanks to a back-to-the-wall 85 by Roshen Silva to earn a first-innings lead of 46 runs in the second test on Thursday.
"We had a chat upstairs - a little bit disappointed that they've got a little bit of a lead", said Leach, who also took three wickets in Sri Lanka's innings.
After Moeen accounted for nightwatchman Malinda Pushpakumara early on, Karunaratne and De Silva calmly put together the biggest stand of the match - 96 in 146 deliveries - and seemed on course for a lengthy stay at the crease.
"England were struggling to break the partnership I had with Dhananjaya".
England had made inroads into the Sri Lankan middle order through some brilliant fielding by Ben Stokes before lunch but Silva frustrated the opposition bowlers for the rest of the day.
Then Stokes showed his uncanny ability to swing a game in his side's favour, producing a wonderful direct hit to see off Karunaratne (63) and an equally memorable one-handed slip catch off Kusal Mendis' edge.
More news: Sony could be making a controller with a touchscreenKarunaratne's own innings came to an end via a run-out, with Ben Stokes swooping in from cover to throw down the stumps at the strikers' end, after Dhananjaya de Silva had called for a quick single. Leach took 3-70, and Adil Rashid 3-75. But Sri Lanka proved they are no pushovers by putting up a tremendous fight. Stand-in skipper Suranga Lakmal was unbeaten on 15 at the end.
Dickwella, who swept freely for his brisk 25, kept the scoreboard moving.
Sri Lanka were unable to head into day two with their opening duo after Leach bowled Kaushal around the wicket in stunning fashion, meaning Karunaratne (19no) and Pushpakumara (1) will begin day two 259 runs behind. Consequently, England's first-innings total shot up to 290.
While England's score is not an imposing first-innings effort on the face of it, Curran is confident it is a healthy one given the state of the Pallekele pitch. Not entirely convincingly but the mystery spinner kept finding runs thereafter, even a lucky boundary, to keep the scoreboard ticking and add to England's frustration.
Silva, in for injured captain Dinesh Chandimal, was on 6 when Angelo Mathews fell for 20, and from there he stitched some valuable partnerships with the lower order to post a competitive total, Sri Lanka's highest in the series.
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